Weekend Survival Tips

Happy Friday! The weekend is finally here - well, almost here :-). Are you ready for it?

For most of us, it's not too difficult staying on plan during the week because we're in a pretty predictable routine. When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, I had the same food routine every day: shake, oatmeal, soup, bar, lean & green, pudding. Sometimes I'd have a hot drink instead of pudding for my last meal, but that was my routine Monday through Friday. Every day I'd have a different flavor of shake, a different oatmeal, soup and bar, and that gave me the variety I needed (when I was on 5&1, we only had the maintenance bars and were limited to just one per day - there were no crunch bars, cheese puffs or pretzels).

Weekends were a different story. My schedule varied from Saturday to Saturday and often included getting together with family members or friends. Sundays always started (and still start!) with church, but the rest of the day's activities changed from week to week. I needed an entirely different strategy - and an entirely different mindset - to successfully navigate the weekends. I'm guessing that you do, too :-)

My weekend survival strategy included a change in my food routine and adopting a "take no prisoners" mindset. On Saturdays, I would often start my day with MF scrambled eggs, then have an oatmeal pancake. Lunch might be a Medifast pizza (send me an e-mail if you want the recipe), with a shake or bar mid-afternoon.

My Saturday lean & green was usually in the evening, and it was often at a restaurant with friends. I knew my friends would be enjoying things that weren't on plan for me, so I mentally prepared for it. I went on line whenever possible so I could review the menu in advance. I would know what I was going to order before I ever walked into the restaurant and I had already logged what I planned to eat on my food log so I knew how many calories and carbs I would be consuming. Deciding ahead of time made it a lot easier and ensured that I wasn't tempted by what I read on the menu, or by what others were ordering. Sure their food looked and smelled good, but I reminded myself (often!) that being on 5&1 wasn't forever, there would be a time when I would have the ability to order anything I wanted and I'd be able to enjoy those foods at my goal weight. Keeping my eyes focused on my goal was key. I knew the things my friends were eating wouldn't help me reach my goal and I decided that I wanted to reach my goal more than I wanted to eat that meal.

If I met a friend for a Saturday morning breakfast, I'd have an eggwhite or Eggbeater veggie omelet, which would be my lean for the day. On those Saturdays, I'd have a salad with my Medifast soup for dinner to get in the rest of my "green." If I was going to meet a friend for breakfast, then we didn't go out for dinner that night.

On Saturdays that were "on the run" days, I would make oatmeal muffins and/or cookies, soup bread or soup chips so I would have meals with me as needed (again, this was before the crunch bars, pretzels and cheese puffs were introduced). Planning my day and figuring out what I would eat and when I would eat it was critical and a key to staying on plan.

On Sunday, my lean & green would usually be at noon. I would often enjoy some "soup bread" or another Medifast recipe in the afternoon, or I'd have another Medifast pizza in the evening.

After a weekend of mixing things up a bit, I was ready to return to my Monday through Friday routine again. Mixing things up a bit on the weekend kept me from slipping into terminal boredom.

I hope some of these ideas will be helpful to you as you look forward to your own weekend. Have a great weekend, and don't forget to choose wisely :-)